Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra plan to hire hundreds of people for their Sydney operations, a move welcomed by NSW Acting Minister for Trade and Investment George Souris.

The two companies last month announced that they plan to merge. The merger is expected to be completed either by the end of this calendar year, or in the first quarter of next year.

Tech Mahindra bought IT services firm Mahindra Satyam (then called Satyam) after it was caught up in an accounting scandal, which Satyam founder and then chairman B Ramalinga Raju likened to riding a tiger and not knowing how to get off without being eaten.

Since then, according to Australian Mahindra Satyam head Venki Prathivadi, Mahindra Satyam has grown rapidly, drawing on capabilities from Tech Mahindra in infrastructure, mobility and information security.

Customer satisfaction is high, according to the executive. "The past is behind us," he said. "Nobody talks about it anymore."

The company grew 27 per cent in Australia last year, and intends to achieve similar growth this year from existing and new customers. This, along with a major win for Tech Mahindra with Vodafone, led to the companies expanding their Sydney presence.

At the opening of new offices in Chatswood yesterday, Souris welcomed the news.

"Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra will create hundreds of new jobs over the next three to five years at their Australian headquarters in Sydney," Souris said.

"The additional staff will be employed in highly skilled IT infrastructure and project-management roles in North Sydney and Chatswood."

Prathivadi said that although Tech Mahindra and Mahindra Satyam have their largest presence in NSW, they also plan to expand in their other locations, for example in Perth, where they have been winning mining business. Traditionally, Tech Mahindra has been strong in the telco industry, while Mahindra Satyam has received most of its success in the financial services industry.